Life — December 12, 1912 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Advertisement Analysis This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It appears in *Life* magazine promoting the **Buffalo Electric Vehicle** for 1913. The ad emphasizes the car's advantages: French-influenced design, single-reduction direct-shaft drive, foot control, motor suspension, and efficient power storage. It highlights "supreme efficiency and ease of control in every electric car usage" and boasts of "best engineering talent in the country." The phrase "**The Best of America**" is marketing copy positioning the vehicle as quintessentially American quality. **Historical context**: Electric vehicles were a serious commercial competitor to gasoline cars in the 1910s, marketed as cleaner, quieter, and easier to operate—particularly appealing to wealthy women drivers. This advertisement represents that pre-Model T era when electric automobiles seemed potentially dominant.